Sometimes I go along to a Home Group which is organised by our church. It’s a midweek Bible study and a chance to have a natter, a cuppa and a time chewing something over. Last week it wasn’t just a Psalm which I was chewing over….
Most unlike me last week at Home Group – I actually turned up early. So early I was the first there. Now my motivation for this is how we often gather in Mervyn and Corrine’s kitchen for some dainty nibbles and an opportunity to catch up with each other. Unbeknown to me, this wasn’t happening, so I was still invited in before the Bible study started.
Corrine kindly made me a cup of tea and we chatted for a few minutes before suggesting I went through to their sitting room and waited there. In I went while Corrine had something else to do. Everything perfectly in place with plenty of chairs, a few spare Bibles and a plate of biscuits on a table in the middle of the chairs.
It has to be said, the biscuits looked lovely and were very tempting. Actually there were two types. First there were some cookie-like biscuits; the kind that are almost like little flapjacks and a little chewy. Then there were some other biscuits which included some chocolate.
Trouble is, they were all neatly arranged and if I had one, it would be obvious one was missing. What a dilemma! I sat there, sipping my tea, thinking how nice it would be to have one of the cookies and how it would melt in my mouth and be washed down with another sip of tea.
So I had one. It was lovely. All of a sudden a bell rang and I thought it must be an alarm rigged up on the biscuits, a kind of biscuit thief alarm! I then heard Corrine welcome Neil and Ruth, followed by suggesting “Neil might like to look after Doug in the sitting room”.
I wondered why Corrine thought I needed looking after, perhaps it was to support me in resisting the devil and grabbing another biscuit. Well, Neil came in and immediately commented on the lovely plate of biscuits and promptly grabbed one for himself. Neil, by the way, is one of those folk who you feel you look up to and hope you can be like him at his age.
Seeing the gap left amongst the biscuits was now looking very obvious, so I rearranged them, trying to disguise the fact Neil and I had helped ourselves.
Shortly after this everyone else started to arrive and were duly served hot drinks and that plate of biscuits just stayed there in front of me, tantalising me through our entire look at Psalm 38, or was it 39 or maybe something completely different.
Whatever it was, the cookies and Psalms were lovely. Thanks Corrine!